HALLELUJA! So that is not a version I'd tried yet (I tried 3 other versions, numbered either 1.2 or 1.3, with no luck). Connected with the driver using COM1 on the very first attempt, just now. Thank you so much. I'm heading back in with the ProTuner manual to see if I can tweak my setup to behave itself better; I'll report back, but this is a bit of progress.
Thanks again KCJ!
Andy